Celine's Film Blog

 CONNECT Narrative feature  Feature establishing protagonist - what information do we find out? How is it conveyed? We are presented with a woman standing on a crowded bus as she gradually changes her view of the world. It starts with her waiting for the bus in the dark at a bus stop, and when the bus arrives, everyone begins pushing each other out of the way competing for available seats, therefore causing her to be the last to get on the bus where she's obligated to stand.  The bus begins to move and the woman puts her headphones on, which could portray an attempt to drown out her surroundings and escape from reality. She is filled with a sense of hostility and ignorance from the rest of the people on board, shown when she pictures a man pulling out a gun and shooting a lady to take her seat.  Her view of the hostile environment on the bus changes when she makes contact with a passenger. She brushes the hands of that passenger, forming a connection/bond with him....

      Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers How is it engaging?  The director of Wallace and Gromit successfully makes the film engaging to the audience by using several different filmmaking techniques. For instance, he uses the stages of Todorov's Narrative Theory which assists the audience in understanding the story and the plot of the film in an organized and structural manner. According to this theory, the film will start with an equilibrium which in this case is Wallace and Gromit peacefully living together and having breakfast in the morning. This is greatly highlighted through the soft chill music in the background of the scene.    Next is an action or character disrupting the equilibrium which is the penguin's arrival and him taking over Gromit's role in the home. This disruption is shown through the way the music changes upon his arrival and becomes eerie, immediately emphasising how the penguin is a threat; essentially acting as a warning to the ...

 AUTEUR AND APOCALYPSE NOW Francis Coppola's auteur style is very contrasting to other directors. 'The Godfather' was one of his first major hit films that portrayed his distinctive style and were then seen in his other films.  Visual Style: - Spectacle and lavish Production design, Theatrical mise-en-scene + stagey set-pieces captured in long takes. - Long tracking shots. - Chiaroscuro lighting ( especially at the end of Apocalypse Now when Kurtz was at the compound ). - Imaginative use of sound and music. - Eisensteinien montages (during the opening and closing sequences of Apocalypse Now - cross-cutting and parallel editing). - Ironic Parallel Montage ( helicopter attack scene, murders at the end of 'The Godfather'). - Mixture of elaborately designed and planned set pieces with handheld improvisation. Narrative: - Anti Heroes, Outsiders, Cold professional men - Antihero: a central character in a story who is not traditionally brave or heroic. In this instance, Ca...

 TODOROV'S THEORY - Wallace & Gromit 1) The narrative starts with an equilibrium: - Introduction to Wallace and Gromit living together during Christmas time and having breakfast. 2) An action or character disrupts the equilibrium: - The first turning point is the penguin's arrival, where he replaces Gromit as he immediately takes his room causing Gromit to have a sleepless night. Further, Gromit is having to wait longer in the bathroom due to the penguin, as well as him taking over his role in collecting the daily Newspaper and having dinner with Wallace. At this point, Gromit realizes he's been replaced and eventually leaves home.  3) A quest to restore the equilibrium begins:  - Gromit realizes that the penguin is a criminal, after that Wallace and Gromit attempt to go and catch the penguin.  4) The narrative continues to a climax: - Wallace, Gromit and the Penguin are battling, but the penguin is at an advantage due to him being armed with a gun. 5) Resolution...

 FILM PRODUCTION - FRANCIS COPPOLA Hotel Room Scene The scene at the beginning with Captain Willard alone in his hotel room was completely unscripted. Martin Sheen had been drinking all day and Coppola had an impulsive idea to incorporate Sheen's drunkenness into the scene. By the time they got going, Sheen was so drunk to the point where he was unable to stand. Later on, they set up two cameras and started rolling without telling Sheen what to do and say whilst letting him know that he could wrap up for the day whenever he felt like it. Coppola stated that at the time of the shoot he intended to represent the different levels of good and evil in oneself and believes that Sheen has done things that no one had ever seen or ever talked to anyone about that must've been locked inside him for a long time. Moreover, this scene is Sheen essentially releasing that torment and sort of venting in a physical manner. Coppola needed something to set up the dark side of Willard and instil t...

 FINAL SCENES The story goes that Coppola didn't have an ending to Apocalypse Now that he actually liked, so due to this, there were two endings eventually shown on screen, both with distinct and explicit meanings and executions.  In this particular ending, Willard creeps into Kurtz's compound and kills him while the Montagnards sacrifice a water buffalo, cutting it into pieces as part of their rituals. The two play over each other with a cross cutting technique, as Willard brings his machete down in rhythm with the Montagranrds one replacing the other on-screen. With the knowledge that a water buffalo was indeed cut into pieces for the scene further makes the final scene noteworthy. Further, this could emphasise inevitability linked to Willard's mission. Willard has completed his mission, he has killed Kurtz. But the meaning of his mission has been tragically transformed by his experiences travelling up river and by his encounter with Kurtz. His original mission from the g...